Ashbury College - Ashburian Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

Page 22 text:

20 THE ASHBURIAN DRAMA H.M.S. PINAFOREU Throughout most of the Fall and VV inter Terms the School became accustomed to hearing lunch-time notices about rehearsals for H.M.S. Pinaforen - and it is safe to assume that quite a number of boys had no idea what was going on. All became clear on April 19 and 20th when the Ashbury-Elmwood production of this ever-popular Gilbert and Sullivan operetta was at last staged at Elmwood before enthusiastic and appreciative audiences. It must be said at once that the result of the long weeks of labour added up to a brave and praiseworthy first attempt at a piece on such a large scale, and that much of the performance was faithful to the spirit fif not always to the letterj of Gilbert and Sullivan. Musically, the soloists were generally accurate, and so were the girls of the chorus, the boys, however, were too often unsure of their notes and we heard much weird subterranean duplication of the soprano part! But what the sailors lacked in accuracy they more than atoned for in vigour, exuberance and projection, the girls, by contrast, seemed rather inhibited and lacking in volume - even so, their singing and their appearance were both very sweet! There was too often a lack of liaison between piano C which did duty for an orchestra, in the capable hands of Mrs. Lorna Harwood-jonesj and singers- and between the singers themselves, in spite of the frenzied efforts of the conductor fMr. Geoffrey Thomsonj. Une would have expected him to have lost pounds, but alas .... Now a few words about individual performances. Dawn Har- wood-Jones was excellent as Little Buttercup, she was particularly successful with her ogling of the sailors and her coquettish manner with them fone almost felt that experience might be helping herelj, and her singing and acting generally left nothing to be desired, apart from a tendency to drag out her recitatives. john McColl made a splendid Bill Bobstay, and his high-powered performance of He is an English- man was a major highlight which stopped the show and brought the house down! Ted -lanke was equally successful as Dick Deadeye- ugly, villainous and coarse-voiced, he was a cross between Lon Chaney and Charles Laughton, and he could hardly be faulted, musically or dramatically. Robert Millar as Ralph Rackstraw, the romantic lead, had a far more difficult task - he was generally very convincing and he certainly looked the part, but some of his scenes with Josephine lacked naturalness. and his speech was not always clear, his singing, however, was probably the best of the evening, apart from occasional sharpness. Captain Corcoran, as played by David NlcNaughton, moved rather

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THE ASHBURIAN I9 my eye fand early on several members of the congregation whose talents on Thursday afternoons would be put to much better use in the Choir stalls. Meanwhile, much has already been achieved. XYc can at last sing the responses in four-part harmony which is both unaccompanied and recognizable! lYe have learnt settings of the canticles which are now so firmly established that any attempt to vary them INCCIS with protesting cries of lYhy can't we stick to the old chants, sir? XYC have sung one or two anthems and one or two descants. XYe have sung an away match at Buckingham, and have been invited to do another at Galetta. So things are looking up. The final rehearsals for the Carol Services were so encouraging that We felt conndent that we were going to sail through an ambitious programme with flying colours. Then fate struck us a cruel blow- a sort of gastric 'flu bug ran amok through the School, and the choir was so badlv hit that the Hnal result was a shadow of what it might Cand probably wouldj have been. Even so, those who were still on their feet carried on manfully, and tae services appear to have given much pleasure. lYe owe a debt of gratitude to the Choir Mothers, who not only look after the maintenance of our robes but also turn up before every service to ensure that we put them on properly! G.VV.T.

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3, GL Y 4 GM ug, N-45 ab Y 'v1 mM,,,,,mw, '-- -fm. , 5 -T Mm ' A ' ' ' ' 1 - , ,H . Q A Q I . V 1 A i . 9 Y .4 . MSN M if W F lf vi ' sW,.,,,,,g piXf'alg, A. Sir joseph Porter: And mm' I am thc ruler of the Quccnk Nam-L- . B. PustludC. C. Captain Corcoran: Cumc, my child, lcr us talk this mer. D. Ralph Rackstraxv: The nightingalc sighed fur rlic iiimnik liriglir my